Texas Longhorns bowl projections

Five questions facing Texas football with two games left

Texas needs more predictably good performance across the board.

We’re through ten games of Texas football. Despite the sample size, there are many questions facing the Longhorns with two games to play.

After the Alabama and Oklahoma game, Quinn Ewers seemed like a certainty for Texas. Since, Ewers has had a difficult time hitting his receivers. The once elite prospect isn’t the only player whose performance has been inconsistent.

The entire defensive unit dominated out of nowhere against TCU after struggling in past weeks. Barryn Sorrell has looked elite some weeks. In other performances, Sorrell has seemed absent from the stat sheet.

For the first time in his tenure, I am unsure whether or not Steve Sarkisian can handle play calling duties. He is still the elite play designer, but it’s unclear whether or not he knows when to make the right calls.

As the regular season nears the finish line, let’s look at what Texas needs to answer moving forward.

Texas Longhorns Football: Latest USA TODAY Sports Bowl projections

A New Year’s Six bowl was the goal of head coach Tom Herman. According to USA TODAY Sports’ latest projections, UT will not accomplish it.

Coming off a bye week, Texas will host Baylor for matchup No. 108 between the two schools. The Longhorns are 2-2 this season, while the Bears have played only two games and are 1-1.

With back-to-back losses to TCU and Oklahoma, Texas’ potential bowl options have fallen below expectations. Going into the season, a Big 12 championship and New Year’s Six bowl at a minimum was the goal of head coach Tom Herman.

According to USA TODAY Sports’ latest projections, the Longhorns will be nowhere near accomplishing their goal.

For the second consecutive week, the Cactus Bowl against Northwestern is the projected site and opponent for Texas. In the history of the two programs, they have faced off once, with Dana Bible’s team losing in Evanston.

The Wildcats will kick off their season on Saturday when they host Maryland. Northwestern is coming off a 3-9 season and will look for a bounce-back year in the Big Ten.

Despite not playing last week, Oklahoma State remains in the Cotton Bowl against Penn State. The Cowboys had their game against Baylor rescheduled due to COVID-19. It would be the first New Year’s Six bowl for Mike Gundy since the 2015 loss to Ole Miss.

Here are the rest of the projected conference bowl matchups:

Oklahoma vs. USC in the Alamo Bowl
West Virginia vs. South Carolina in the Liberty Bowl
Baylor vs. SMU in the First Responders Bowl
Kansas State vs. Miami (Florida) in the Cheez-It Bowl
Iowa State vs. Arkansas in the Texas Bowl

If Texas wants to avoid the Cactus Bowl and move toward a better matchup, moving up the standings in the Big 12 is a must. As things stand, the Longhorns are below seven teams in the standings. Luckily, five of them remain on the schedule.

With readjusted expectations after the 2-2 start, even the Cactus Bowl would be deemed a failure for Herman. Working toward getting back into the Alamo Bowl would help the fourth-year head coach’s job status.

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USA TODAY Sports Bowl Projections: Texas Longhorns to face Northwestern in Cactus Bowl

In the latest bowl projections by the USA TODAY, UT is off to play in the Cactus Bowl. Northwestern from the Big Ten would face UT in Tempe.

In the latest bowl projections by the USA TODAY, Texas is off to Tempe, Arizona to play in the Cactus Bowl. The Longhorns have never appeared in the bowl game despite the Big 12 being tied to it since 2006.

After being a Big 12 vs Pac-12 bowl game for five seasons, the Big Ten will now replace the west coast conference on a yearly basis. In the projections, the Northwestern Wildcats will be joining Texas in Arizona.

Northwestern has yet to kick off its season and will do so on Oct. 24 at home against Maryland. The Wildcats are looking to rebound from a 3-9 2019 that included a seven-game losing streak.

Historically, Texas and Northwestern have only met up one time and it was during World War II. In 1942 Dana Bible took the Longhorns up to Evanston and suffered a 3-0 loss. It was one of only two losses Bible’s squad suffered that season before capturing the Southwest Conference title.

As for the rest of the Big 12, no conference member is projected to participate in the College Football Playoff. Ohio State, Clemson, Alabama, and Georgia are slated to be the four teams to fight for the national championship.

At the moment, Oklahoma State represents the conference in the New Year’s Six bowl games. The Cowboys are projected to play Penn State in the Cotton Bowl held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

Mike Gundy’s squad is the only undefeated team left in the Big 12 and will face Texas on Halloween.

Here are the rest of the conference matchups:

Oklahoma vs USC in the Alamo Bowl
West Virginia vs Ole Miss in the Liberty Bowl
Baylor vs SMU in the First Responders Bowl
Kansas State vs Miami (FL) in the Cheez-It Bowl
Iowa State vs Mississippi State in the Texas Bowl

Texas will need to beat teams such as Oklahoma State and West Virginia to compete for a higher bowl bid. While the College Football Playoff is out of the question, plenty of two-loss teams have played in a New Year’s Six Bowl game.

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